The Minutes of the meetings held on 26th & 27th of September in Bordeaux, France, and on 31st October in Marrakech, Morocco, were signed by the President as a true record.

President’s Welcome:

The President wished the Board a very warm welcome to the final meeting of 2014. She went on to say that she hoped Board members would do their best to attend as many meetings as possible in 2015.

The President talked about the EHF General Assembly which took place in Marrakech alongside the FIH Congress 6 weeks previously.

It was a successful meeting with our Member Associations, during which we received approval to change our statutes. The President extended her thanks on behalf of the Board to Martin Gotheridge for all his work on the statutes.
At the General Assembly we also changed our subscription system, and distributed our new EHF flag which is important as it shows our new identity as dynamic, fresh and modern.

No tournaments have taken place since the last meeting, however the President reported that along with Angus Kirkland and Jorge Alcover she had been very busy working on the future of EHL, discussions about which are still ongoing.

She reported that after the last meeting we received letter from AzPetrol who informed us that unfortunately due to economic difficulties they would not be in a position to continue their partnership with EHF. The Board wished to note their thanks for the support received from AzPetrol over the last 8 years. She went on to report that, along with Angus Kirkland she visited Baku for the EOC General Assembly and they took this opportunity to meet with the General Director of AzPetrol. They were very grateful that he could take the time out of his busy schedule to meet them. Following this meeting, we recently received the good news that AzPetrol have agreed to continue their partnership with the European Hockey Federation for 2015.

The EOC meeting was very interesting and a fantastic opportunity to meet with NOCs. She reported that Kosovo were announced as a new IOC member, and they will also apply to FIH and EHF.

The President wished to record her thanks to the EOC for their hospitality.

She went on to report that there appear to be some issues in Greece and Russia. Greece are fighting to play hockey with the authorities seeming to be causing problems with regard to the old Olympic Stadium. We have received a letter from them and will work with FIH and NOC to support them.

It appears that Russia now has a second Federation and the President and the legality of the situation is unclear (several conversations have taken place to solve this situation. No solution has been found as yet).

Finally she spoke about the IOC meeting which took place in Monaco and the 40 recommendations which were unanimously approved. The President mentioned 4 important ones in particular:

1. Event based rather than sport based. Instead of maximum 28 sports, the OG will be about 310 events
2. Foster Gender Equality in the whole spectrum of the sport
3. Launch an Olympic channel – it is noted that Croatia already has one and we have sent EHL footage to them to show on this channel. Media coverage creates awareness. Key!
4. Increase transparency

Matters Arising

None

Director General’s Report

Angus Kirkland presented his report.

EuroHockey Championships 2015
Angus kept this brief as England Hockey were speaking later in the meeting. Angus reported that Sponsorship was an ongoing challenge and that the tender for the production for the TV was being sent out shortly. Ticket sales are doing well and there should be an exchange capability at the venue for the semi-finals. The next stakeholder board meeting is on 17th December and David and Siobhan recently met with the organisers

EuroHockey Championships 2017
Angus reported that he was in general discussions with Erik Gerritsen of the KNHB.

Euro Hockey League
Angus reported that a brief financial audit is being undertaken. In the last week’s confirmation of actual sponsorships and balance sheet position have led to further negotiations of the share purchase.
EHC/EHL Rights Position
Angus reported that the approach of combining the sales of rights of EHC 2015 & 2017 and EHL is proving to be interesting to broadcasters and rights buyers. The EHL is expanding its market reach with strong interest from Germany, Belgium, France etc. It is expected this will lead to an increase in income for rights for EHL. For the EHC it is a little early to tell but expectations are that exposure will conservatively be in line with 2013.

EOC
Angus reported on the European Olympic Committee General Assembly which took place in Baku on 21/22 November. The President attended this event with Angus, who reported that it had been an excellent networking opportunity where they had the chance to meet with many NOC Presidents. The President and Angus took the opportunity to offer a complete folder about European Hockey which we hope will again increase their awareness of us.

Partners
Angus gave the following update

• AzPetrol – as the President already reported AzPetrol have agreed to continue their partnership with the European Hockey Federation for 2015.
• Musco grant information is now on website and has been sent to NA’s. It has also been promoted on Facebook, Twitter, and email to Clubs we have contacts for
• AstroTurf – it is planned to meet with them in Q1 2015

Angus went on to say that bringing on new partners will now become a strategic priority with income in this area having decreased and now that the TV sales are coming into place for a number of seasons there is a better platform to promote partnerships. Angus has met several agencies interested in helping including SportsCal, SportsPro, 2 Circles, Repucom, PES.
In the coming months we will have to decide the best approach with the right level of information that can give the optimum return against budget and time.

Disciplinary Update
There are no major outstanding issues. Tim Ollerenshaw and David Voskamp met and discussed procedures followed in making decisions. It was noted that all reprimands ideally should be included on the site to help TD’s and that carry over suspensions need good communication with FIH and NA’s.
Rules Update
It was noted that the new rules have been posted by FIH. It was felt that the consultation could have been better. Especially about ‘the opt-out’ options. There are a limited number of variations for top level – 4 x 15, countdown clock etc. and that the Regulations that vary the Rules will apply to top Domestic Hockey. However NA’s can decide to opt out of these. EHF will send a clarification letter to the NA’s.
It was noted that there have been some regulations incorporated into rules – e.g. attacking free hits

Board Evaluation
Angus highlighted the Key Areas from the report
The Board were quite consistent across all areas – overall scores for each section were between 4-6. We now have to decide which areas of Development we wish to undertake and put together a Development Plan and agree to what level the various areas are a priority.

Strategic Plan
Angus reported that the Current plan runs through 2016. The FIH MOU will impact our Strategic plan however it is currently quite narrow so on top of MOU actions will have a section for covering all our areas , Competition, Education, Development, Communication, Marketing, Finance & Governance. It is planned to have the first draft of the Strategic Plan at the March Board meeting with a Final Plan 2016 -2020 for the June Board Meeting with a view to presenting it at the General Assembly in August.
Development Projects Committee Report

Gianni Rossi & Norman Hughes gave a report from the Development Projects

Gianni reminded the Board that our aims are as follows:
1. To support our nations who have the ability to grow to a minimum of 5,000 members
2. To support infrastructure/facility development
3. To help train coaches, umpires, officials and volunteers to support our NAs
4. These actions are based on the budget agreed in principle at September Executive Board

With key action areas for Development in the following areas
• YOUTH
• HOCKEY4ALL
• INFRASTRUCTURE
• NA SUPPORT

Youth 2015
Events:
Gianni reported EHF Mediterranean Cup U16 Hockey 5s is scheduled for MALTA – 26-28TH June, There is planned a follow up from this years EHF U14 Festival to be held in Italy in June but we are still waiting final confirmation. The EHF Balkan U12/U14 Hockey 5s will be held in BULGARIA – 6-8TH Aug. One major issue is the costs of Hockey5s Boards which initial quotes are coming in at £10k per set!

Youth Panel:
A member will be present at March Executive Board to highlight their plans/ideas for 2015/17. The Panel will give Staff support to the Euro Hockey Para Hockey tournament – London August. The Panel intend to grow and form a new Leadership panel with a desire to support most EHF Committees in their work.

Eurohockey Parahockey championships – London
• 24-27th AUGUST consisting of 4 Performance teams and 4 Development teams.
INAS (Organisation for Para-athletes with an intellectual disability)

Norman reported that he had, had a good meeting with INAS and that they were willing to Partner EHF to ensure Para Hockey is included in INAS Europe and INAS Global games. They would assist EHF with Eligibility criteria and getting approval for Para Hockey as a demo game in INAS Europe Winter Games 2016 in Poland.
INAS Europe Games are every 4 years -winter 2016 – 2020 and summer 2018 – 2022. They have expressed a desire to sign a protocol with EHF.

Norman has been invited to present to INAS Europe in Wakefield Feb 2015 and to attend the INAS Global n Sheffield April 2015.

Pitches/kit 2015
GET and GIVE:
This is ongoing but it was noted it is important to improve awareness of the programme at EHF General Assembly and on our website.

Pitches:
It was reported that TURKEY are building 3 new pitches in 2015 and 3 more in 2016. Vilnius are constructing/refurbishing their pitch in 2015 and that there is a process and waiting list for second hand pitches with expressions of interest from:
CROATIA, PORTUGAL, HUNGARY, BULGARIA, ITALY, UKRAINE

NA support 2015
It was reported that the 2nd year of support to:
Balkan Region (BUL/ROM/SRB/FYROM), Croatia, Czech Rep, Portugal

Club of the Year 2014
It was reported that the Nomination papers ready to go and the NA’s will be asked to nominate by the end of Feb. The DC will make recommendations to the EB in March.

The EHF SURVEY 2014 is being done in coordination with the FIH as part of a global gathering of data.

The budget was presented and approved by the Board.

Inez Cooper and Norman Hughes presented a report from the Education Committee

Coaches Working Group
Top Coaches Programme
14 nominations have been received from 10 nations for 2015/16 programme with activity lined up for EHL Finals, World League Belgium or Euro Hockey Championships London plus 4 webinars with 5 mentors selected.

Coaches 4 Europe
19 nominations have been received for 2015/16 programme from 9 nations with activity lined up for the Breda Push weekend in 20-23 Aug and 4 webinars.

Supporting National Growth – Regional seminars will take place in Balkan, Central, Portugal, North East

FIH Academy
It was reported that 5 EHF conductors qualified in 2014 – Herman Kruis, Norbert Nederlof, Norman Hughes, Tomislav Jamicic, Siegfried Aikman with a target of 5 more in 2015. Norman is meeting with FIH (Mike Joyce) to ease the process.

Norman reported on Sportsession Planner Thomas Tichelman was presenting later on in the meeting so briefly highlighted that it was a great coaching tool which was hockey specific and would be a big benefit to our smaller developing nations

Umpires working group

UDP
It was reported that there are 6 members in Group 9 2015 with Karen Evans and Andy Mair as mentors. Activities will be held in Los Reyes in January, Vienna in April, during the and EHL and Euro Hockey Championships in addition to exchange weekends and mentor visits

Umpires 4 Europe
It was reported that there are 23 members from 14 nations in 2015 with the main activity being during the Breda Push weekend 21-24 Aug and 4 webinars.

Supporting National Growth
It was reported that the aim is to support 3 or 4 regional seminars in 2015. Papers were sent out in November requesting Expressions of Interest. In 2014 seminars were staged in Vilnius, Vienna, and Dublin. In 2015 they are planned for CRO central zone, WAL north west zone, FRA/SUI, and POL eastern/northern Europe.

Priorities for Committee for the next period were reported as follows:

TCP project
To finalise nominations and inform NAs by the end of Dec – maximum 15 members.
2 main events in 2015 to progress are: 2 – 6th May EHL KO4 and 27-30th Aug Euro Nations London. Webinar presenters to be firmed up for March – December

C4E project
To finalise nominations and inform NAs by end Dec – maximum 20 members with 1 main event in 2015 – 20-23 Aug – Breda Push Tournament. This will be combined with 1 workshop with U4E.
Webinar presenters to be firmed up for Mar – December

SNG project
To agree support for regional seminars 2015 and finalise plans and inform NAs by end Dec- Max 3 regional seminars in 2014
Sport Session Planner – Formal signing and launch of this coaching aid to all NAs and our TCP/C4E groups
Officials Working Group

Thomas Tichelman, Performance Manager of KNHB was welcomed to the meeting and he went on to demonstrate the SportsSession Planner programme.

The Education committee recommend that the Board agree a 3 year deal with Sport Session Planner coaching aid which will allow all our coaches to share their drills on line.

Agreed

The President thanked both Thomas and the KNHB for this fantastic offer.

FIH – Mike Joyce

Mike Joyce, who is the new contact in the FIH for Continental Federations introduced himself to the Executive Board and explained his role. The President welcomed Mike and thanked him for speaking to the Board. She noted that we are stronger when we work together which involves Continental Federations contributing to the FIH and not only vice versa.

England Hockey Presentation

Jonathan Cockcroft and Andy Tapley from the Stakeholder Board of the EHC 2015 then presented to the Board. They outlined how hosting events was a key part of their overall strategy looking to have good high performance on home soil drive profile leading to increased participation and in turn high performance. They explained that since 2012 Olympics there had been growth of 40% in junior numbers playing and through their event strategy they hoped to sustain and build on this.

Andy explained that UK Sport would be looking at the Economic Impact of the event and the success of the teams. Jon outlined the work that had gone into the sponsorship search looking for a good fit with their values which are family centric, welcoming, proud and entertaining.

The walk route was discussed and the Board expressed concern for those less mobile. For the President a key point. Jon confirmed there would be an exchange area for the semi-finals. 125 Media persons are expected to attend across the event. With regard side events Jon confirmed that the General Assembly was being supported with funding and that 96 teams had entered into the Masters event which will be staged between Old Loughtonians, Southgate and St Albans.

The President thanked Andy and Jon for their presentation and the professional way in which the event is being organised stating everyone is looking forward to attending a wonderful showcase in London.

Competitions Committee – Outdoor

David Voskamp presented a report from the Competitions Committee – Outdoor.

Update on U18 tournaments in 2015
Youth U18 Championship III Girls
David reported that Albena (BUL) withdrew as host of this event due to flooding in the area earlier this year which led to heavy infrastructure problems. In late November Croatian Hockey Federation agreed to host the event in Sveti Ivan Zelina. The participants are: BLR, BUL, CRO, GIB, TUR, SUI.

Youth U18 Championship III Boys
After the last EB meeting in September it was agreed to contact Gibraltar for information with regard to how many teams had been in contact with them. All teams withdrew from the tournament in GIB due to costs. EHF afterwards asked BLR if they would be willing to host and they accepted with Minsk being the venue. UKR who previously withdrew, confirmed participation. GIB withdrew this time due to distance and CRO withdrew due for financial reasons. The participants are: ARM, BLR, BUL, LTU, UKR.

Youth U18 Championship II Boys
David visited the venue in Calais on 10th December. Match schedules of all U18 events will be published in December/January.

Update on Championship tournaments in 2015
EuroHockey Championship, Women and Men, 2015
David visited the London 2015 venue early December and updated the Board on this successful meeting.

EuroHockey Championship IV, Men, 2015
Bulgaria Men have withdrawn from the Championship IV in LTU.

Match schedules of all Championship events will be published in December/January.

Update on Club tournaments in 2015
EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge II Men 2015.
David reported that AD Lousada (POR) has requested to change the dates of the tournament to 21-24 May due to Monday not being a free day in Portugal. Teams and officials were consulted about this possible change. Because some teams were not in favour of the change of dates, the initial dates stand (22-25 May).

EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge III Men 2015
Qormi HC (MLT) withdrew because the event coincides with various important school leaving examinations and Olcote HC (HUN) were invited from the Challenge IV to be promoted and accepted the invitation.

EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge IV Men 2015
Santa Maria de Lamas (POR) has requested to change the dates of the tournament to 21-24 May due to Monday not being a free day in Portugal. Teams and officials are requested what they think of the change and afterwards EHF will decide.

David stated that he had visited Lousada and Santa Maria de Lamas in November and that both venues look good and he had met with the local organisers.

Agreed

EuroHockey Club Champions Cup Women 2015
David reported that S.C.H.C. (NED) had, had some reservations about if they could make it work, but finally accepted and agreed to host. David will visit them in December.

EuroHockey Club Champions Challenge III Women 2015
KPH Rača (SVK) and Hawks Ladies (GIB) withdrew because the event coincides with various important school leaving examinations. Teams from Greece and Sweden have been invited to participate in the event in Prague. Sweden has accepted and Greece still need to confirm

Update EHL
The EHL Round 1 weekend in Barcelona went well. The Catalan Federation together with Atletic Terrassa did an excellent job in organising. SV Kampong (NED), Rot Weiss Koln (GER), Royal Daring (BEL) and SV Arminen (AUT) went through to KO16 in Bloemendaal 1-6 April.
TMS worked successfully and all officials were very happy with the system.
The match schedule for KO16 was done by draw during the EB meeting in Marrakesh in October and will be published soon.

EuroHockey Championships 2019 – Format change
The working group came together 22nd November in Brussels to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of a change from the current format. Madelaine Bakker was represented by Guido Davio (Competitions Manager KNHB) for this meeting and Angus was represented by Bjorn Isberg. Erhard Hiessmayr, Jiri Huptych, Thierry Renaer and Laurent Brachet also joined.
The process was discussed and the group agreed conduct a SWOT analysis of the current format and ask an independent person to overview it. Figures of spectator numbers and media are also required. A timeframe has been made for the whole procedure and the next meeting will take place on 31st January in Brussels.

Hockey5 U16 Proposal
The Board received a report from the Regulations Working Group following their meeting to discuss the format of the 2016 and 2017 Hockey5 events.

Anti-Doping
FIH has updated the Anti-Doping regulations. Al NA’s have been informed by them.

IOC changes
David reported that the IOC recently produced their Olympic agenda. Recommendation 25 says: The IOC to move the organisation of the YOG to a non-Olympic year, starting with the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games, to be postponed from 2022 to 2023. This will have influence on our recently changed EHF calendar.

Rules and regulations
It was agreed that the recent Rules of Hockey published by the FIH would come into effect in all European Competitions as of 1st January 2015. As mentioned, an explanation will be sent out about the opt-out option.

Next meeting
The next Competition Outdoor meeting will take place on 1st February 2015 in Brussels.
Competitions Committee – Indoor Report

All match schedules have been approved by the hosts.
EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I (Men)
Club Keçiören Bağlum SK (TUR) have withdrawn and Cardiff & Met (WAL) accepted promotion from Challenge II.
EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy (Women)
CUS Pisa (ITA) have withdrawn due to players who playing World League Round 2 in Montevideo (URU) at the same time. No promotion was given because Turkey are next in line and are hosting Challenge I. The Trophy therefore will consist of 7 teams playing in a One Pool competition.

Rules and regulations
All EHF Indoor Nations and Club tournaments are played under the updated FIH Rules of Indoor Hockey, effective from 1 January 2015.

Relegation in the lowest division
Walter reported that the Indoor Committee wants to clarify the rules for “relegation” from the lowest division. They propose the following:
From a fairness point the next year’s qualification should always put teams who participated above teams who did not apply or withdrew.

The proposal was as follows:
A team who took part should always have a ranking, a team that did not take part should not have a ranking.
The only exception to that is if a team entered, was willing to play but the tournament was cancelled.

A) If a team has entered but the tournament was cancelled by EHF due to a lack of sufficient entries.
B) If a team withdraws before deadline or did not enter in the first place – these two situations should be treated equal
C) If a team withdraws after deadline – in this case we do have special regulations on re-promotion for clubs

In cases where we have too many applications for places in the next years lowest division, and there must be a draw, we have to take the above into account.

First teams set: A)
Then the potentially relegated teams
Then a draw of all teams B)
Then a draw of all teams C), if that is necessary to fill up to 8

It is clear out of all the reports that Europe prefers to play with 6 against 6. The President advised to continue discussion after the World Cup in Leipzig.

Bjorn/Jorge confirmed this will be discussed at the Comp Coordination Committee in June following the Indoor Competitions meeting in May.

Webinar
David reported that a webinar was held at the beginning of December to assist the indoor hosts in their preparations.

Priorities for Committee for the next period (please specify period):
1. Ongoing support and advice to host venues and participating teams in 2016 Indoor Nations and Indoor Club tournaments 2015.
2. Deal with any queries from participating nations and clubs accordingly.
3. The next meeting of Indoor Committee will be held on 9 May 2015 in Brussels.

Bjorn Isberg wished to apologise that he would not be able to attend the second day of the Board Meeting.

Agreed

Communications Committee Report

Siobhan Madeley presented the annual report from the Communications Committee.

The annual report from EHF Communications Manager, Siobhan Madeley was received covering the topics of Fan Engagement, Communications Channels and Current Services & Analysis.

The Communications Committee has set 3 Strategic Priorities over the coming 12 months, with operational actions falling under each heading, named CAP (Communications Action Plan)

Fan engagement
Fan engagement. The Communications Committee proposed to agree 5 core targets with the Board for implementation during 2015, taking into consideration the EHF’s event portfolio (competitions (3 tiers), education and other activities) Once the strategy is agreed, the Communications Committee will develop an online Fan Engagement Toolkit for hosts of all our events

Hall of Fame – the Board discussed the proposals from the Communications Committee with regard to the next steps for the Hall of Fame. The President gave feedback requesting that the Committee first focus on how to get nominations, with the suggestion that nominees might include a video. The next steps will be discussed at the Executive Board Meeting in March. The president asked that a realistic approach to the selection process be proposed, with a simplified voting process.
Communication Channels

Siobhan updated the Board on the Website. The Event Management section of website has been reviewed and reorganised in conjunction with Senior TDs and Competitions Co-ordinator, a more logical and professional approach. There is now one page of upcoming Competitions on the homepage, it will be updated at the beginning of each month. There is a new Disciplinary Section and Data cleansing is being finalised ensuring our historical results are not lost.

The E Magazine is scheduled to be ready for August with all copy compiled by the end of June.

Siobhan gave an update on our Social Media progress. The Facebook numbers improve dramatically when there is a paid engagement and this is a consideration for our major events to bolster numbers. Siobhan reported on the targets for Facebook and Twitter how the numbers can be improved and how the analysis will be tracked. Siobhan and the committee are also looking into a way of aggregating content from around Europe through the use of an RSS based application.

The plan for our YouTube channel it is still being decided what the best approach is for EHF.

Current Services and Analysis
Siobhan outlined our ongoing Current Services and analysis.
The EuroHockey Branding Toolkit is complete and has been implemented for hosts in 2015. However in order to be relevant it was note it needs to be monitored to ensure delivery from our hosts of competitions and education programme.

The Sports Presentation document is online and hosts are made aware of the toolkit is available.
The Marketing requirements at each tournament to support EHF partner obligations in terms of signage and advertisements are being delivered and Siobhan will act as Media Officer to the top EuroHockey Nations and Club events this year as well as delivering the results and reports from each of our 34 events.

The President thanked Siobhan for the presentation, and she went on to emphasise the importance of building relationships with clubs. She requested that a plan be developed for the use of Twitter and Facebook, and that more highlights packages be produced from EHL and the EuroHockey Championships.

General Assembly 2015

Angus Kirkland gave an update on plans for General Assembly 2015, he noted that feedback given by delegates at the General Assembly in Marrakech was very useful and all points are being considered in the planning for the General Assembly in London.
Hon Treasurer’s Report

The Hon Treasurer presented the Accounts for the year to date.

Income is well over budgeted. Expenditure is slightly below budget as at 31st October, however the outlook expects slightly over budget including EHL shareholder contribution.

The 2015 final budget was presented and approved by the Board.

Carola Meyer wished to note the Board’s thanks to the President and the Director General for their work with EHF Partners.
Appointments Committee Report

Ray O’Connor presented a report from the Appointments Committee.
Ray explained that the Appointments Committee strives to work with integrity, simplicity and understanding. The Executive Board approved a proposal from the committee for Yolande Brada to join the Umpires Working Group in order to have a better link between Umpire Education and Appointments.

The Appointments Committee met October 11th, 2014 in the EHF Office in Brussels to discuss and finalise the 2015 Outdoor Appointments.

The Executive Board were presented with a breakdown of all appointments and percentages of withdrawals and rejections.

Ray went on to discuss:
– Gap in Top male umpires after Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
– Challenges for female umpires
– Roadmap for Officials
– Communication between Appointments and Education Committees
– Concerns with the reports from tournaments which do not seem to reflect verbal feedback.

Next Meeting
The Committee will meet in Brussels, October 10th, 2015. A Skype meeting is planned (Date TBC) after the Indoor 2015 season.

The President thanked Ray for his presentation and the work of the committee. She noted the very important message about development of top umpires and emphasised to the Executive Board members that they also have a responsibility to take this message back to their NAs.

The Board noted that more communication to the general public through our website may assist this and suggested a communications projects such as ‘The week of the Official’.

Any Other Business

Angus Kirkland confirmed that office closes Monday 22nd until Monday 5th. Angus thanked the board for contribution over the past and also thanked the staff for all their work and support over the last year.

Carola Meyer noted that it had been a good meeting, and sent on to thank the staff and President for all their hard work and support in 2014.

The President thanked the Board for their excellent contributions throughout a very interactive meeting, she wished to thank Jane Brennan and Yamila Conill in the office, as well as Angus Kirkland for an excellent job done in an extremely busy year.